Education Equity

10 Questions for Equity Advocates to Ask About Distance Learning

Across the country, school buildings remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These school closures are a stark reminder…

May 07, 2020 by EdTrust, Digital Promise

Across the country, school buildings remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These school closures are a stark reminder of the important role that schools can play in the lives of children and young adults. For many students, schools are a place of stability, where they can learn, grow, and nurture relationships. They are even a source of daily meals for many students.

However, students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, English learners, students with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups such as homeless students and students in foster care, were less likely to have rigorous, engaging, and positive educational experiences before the pandemic. There is a real risk that school closures will deepen these existing inequities in our education system.

Many states are leaving decisions about how to continue instruction during school closures up to districts. Digital Promise and The Education Trust partnered to compile the following questions to guide equity advocates and district leaders as they engage in conversations about ensuring that our most vulnerable students have equitable access to distance learning, both now and for however
long school buildings are shuttered. Depending on public health guidance, distance learning may be needed for the summer and parts of the next school year.

In this guide, we share ideas that advocates and district leaders can consider when planning for how to continue teaching and supporting students, based on what other states and districts have begun to do. But these are unprecedented times. There isn’t yet research and data on best practices for ensuring continuity of learning during a global pandemic. A key role for advocates and district
leaders is to monitor how the challenges posed by school closures are being addressed and to urge transparency about the impact of these efforts on all students in their communities.

Still, even under the best circumstances, distance learning is not a substitute for in-school education. The learning loss created by the COVID-19 crisis is going to be massive. Districts should be planning now for how to make up this lost learning time, which particularly affects our most vulnerable students, by implementing summer programs, extending the school year, and extending or restructuring school days for summer 2020, the 2020-21 school year, and summer 2021.

Federal Stimulus Dollars

District leaders should provide answers to these types of questions in their application to the state for federal stimulus dollars. Districts’ plans for using these dollars to address challenges posed by the pandemic should be made immediately available to the public with full transparency.